It’s Like Approving Adultery says Mufti Perak

Deciding to allow Muslim children born out of wedlock use their biological father’s name as registered surname is like approving adultery, said Perak Mufti,Tan Sri Dr Harussani Zakaria. That view is also against the consensus of the ulama and the teachings of the Syafie school which is abided by in Malaysia.

He refers to Perlis Mufti Datuk Dr Mohd Asri Zainul Abidin’s support of a landmark Court of Appeals’ decision allowing Muslim children born out of wedlock to use their biological father’s name as their surname.

“Do we want publicy it? This is heading towards making adultery halal (permissible in Islam),” he included.

“I hope that ulama like these are careful. We use the consensus that was reached thousands of years ago and is based on hukum (Islamic law) as cited in the Quran, hadis (prophetic traditions) and studies.

This is due to last weeks, the Court of Appeals ruled that the National Registration Department was out of bounds when it used the name “Abdullah” for a child born out of wedlock. A three-man bench administered by judge Datuk Abdul Rahman Sebli deduced that the surname carries a stigma. Furthermore, Islam does not condone such open and public humiliation towards the child when the appeal made by a 7-year-old and his parents.

It is decided the department to continue using the current system of registering Muslim children born out of wedlock. The systems stresses based on the National Fatwa Council’s edict that disallows children conceived out of wedlock to take their fathers name.

Harussani said the constitution clearly states that Islam is the religion of the federation countering the groups that claimed that NRD was contemptuous of the court’s decision .

“So why deny the decision of the Fatwa Council,” he added when fatwas in every state has been gazetted according to Islamic laws.

“The decision of the Court of Appeal is insulting to Islam, the Federal Constitution and fatwa. This is a religious matter, not political,” Harussani said.

Perak mufti adds that if the matter was not handled properly, it would affect Islam and the Federal Constitution. He advised legal experts especially the three judges involved in the case who were all graduates from the Universiti Islam Antarabangsa Malaysia to look back at the constitution.